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Pray Boldly

timeless

// Kenneth E. Hagin

Timeless Teachings

Effective prayer involves boldness. There are many things we do not need to pray for—but it is all right to pray for boldness.

We do not need to pray for faith, because our faith is increased by feeding it on God's Word and exercising it. But the Bible does show us that we can pray for boldness.

Peter and John were bold when they used the Name of Jesus to minister to the lame man at the gate called Beautiful. They were bold when they proclaimed the Name of Jesus to the crowd that gathered. The Jewish authorities noticed their boldness and commanded them to preach and teach no more in the Name of Jesus (Acts 4:13, 18).

Being let go, they went to their own company and reported all the chief priests and elders had said to them. Then the whole company of believers lifted up their voice with one accord in prayer unto God.

ACTS 4:29–30
29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

That prayer was answered!

ACTS 4:31
31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

Another New Testament example of someone seeking boldness is Paul. This apostle of faith asked the Church at Ephesus to pray for him "that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make know the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak" (Eph. 6:19–20).
The Ephesians' prayer for Paul was a prayer of supplication.

Boldness to Act
We may not know what to pray for, but thank God, the Holy Spirit does. We need boldness to act on God's Word and on what His Spirit may say to us. I can sense the Spirit searching for those whom He can trust to pray and act with boldness. He needs them.

Many people have jobs and duties that prevent them from giving themselves wholeheartedly to intercession. Yet I have found that as we go about doing whatever we have to do, on the inside of us, we can be praying.

There are jobs where it would be very difficult for you to pray while working. So God would have to seek out someone else. But there are some jobs—particularly if you are not working with your mind but with your hands—where you could give yourself to prayer even while you're working.
Don't throw off that burden to pray when it comes. Be bold to act on it.

One day while I was still pastoring, I was driving along attending to some business and visiting people. Suddenly, I had an urge to pray for my younger brother. He was backslidden at the time and not walking with the Lord. An alarm went off within me.

So I went along praying on the inside, even while I was talking to other people. On the inside of me, something was reaching out to God on his behalf. I carried that thing around with me two or three days until it just lifted. I didn't know what it concerned.

Later on, in conversation, my brother said to me, "I'll tell you one thing. The Lord sure helped me the other day." At that time, he owned a ranch. He told me that a 5-gallon can of gasoline he was holding in his hand exploded. He was not the least bit hurt!

But three days before it happened, I was praying. I am satisfied if I had thrown that off and not yielded to it, my brother could have been severely burned and perhaps killed.

What if I hadn't prayed?

Boldness Before the Throne
ISAIAH 43:25–26
25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

Here is a challenge from the covenant-keeping God to Israel. It is also a challenge to the Church. For if God kept His covenant with them, He will keep His covenant with us.

The believer has covenant rights in prayer, as well as other covenant rights.

Yet one outstanding problem defeats believers in their prayer life. When we come to God, we have a feeling of inferiority, a sense of sin consciousness, because we know we have failed. We have a guilt complex. And when we come into the presence of God, we don't know whether He hears us.

But look at what God said: "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins" (Isa. 43:25).

Why did God say He would blot out our transgressions? He did it for His own sake. He wanted to bless us, and He couldn't without doing this.

When we know that God blotted out our sin—that He doesn't remember we ever did anything wrong—we can come to Him with confidence and faith. We lose sin consciousness and instead have Son consciousness!

We are sons of God. We are joint heirs with Jesus Christ. We are covenant people. We have a legal right—a gospel right, a family right—to enter the throne room.

When Jesus went into the presence of the Father, He didn't go in with just His head, leaving His little finger outside saying, "Oh, I'm embarrassed." No! He didn't have any condemnation in His little finger.

We are the Body of Christ. That means the Body can go into the presence of God the Father with the same confidence and assurance that the Head can. Boldly!

 


 

FAITH IN ACTION
Bear One Another's Burdens

Scripture tells us to "bear ye one another's burdens" (Gal. 6:2). The word bear means "to lift with the idea of removing." Prayer is one way we can remove people's burdens.

Hebrews 12:1
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

This scripture mentions two things that hinder Christians in their race—weights and sins. We can help fellow believers run their race better by helping lift these burdens through prayer. We don't need to criticize them; we need to pray for them. When we take our places in prayer for each other, we help the entire Body of Christ mature.

 

 

Romans 4:20 (NIV) says that Abraham “did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God.” Many years ago my father, Kenneth E. Hagin, wrote in the flyleaf of his Bible, “God said it; I believe it; and that settles it.” Abraham had this same attitude, and we need to grab hold of it too. No matter how bad our situation looks, our victory is found in God’s promises and in never letting go of what our Heavenly Father has said.
Don’t Be Double-Minded
Often today believers affirm their faith publicly, but when they are by themselves, they begin to question God. They wonder if He can really help them. The moment they start doubting, they begin wavering in their faith.
The Bible is very clear about the danger of wavering.
James 1:6–7 (NIV)
6 When you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
Faith does not look at circumstances, and it doesn’t regard feelings. It stays completely focused on God’s Word. Unfortunately, some people allow their situations and feelings to “speak” louder than Scripture.
Some people lose their healing because they stop looking at the Word and focus on what’s going on in their body. It’s dangerous to do this, because before long they will start talking wrong. They’ll begin to say things like, “I thought I was healed. I guess I lost my healing.”
When we start talking like that, we throw out our healing and open the door for the devil and all of his junk to come back in. If we would just stand strong on the Word, every symptom would leave.
Look to the Word
Anytime the enemy bombards your mind with his lies, you must counter those lies with the Word of God. When lack rears its ugly head, read what God said about prosperity. When sickness impacts your body, meditate on healing scriptures. When fear invades your life, find peace scriptures to read. When impossibilities stare you in the face, the Word holds your answer.
Reading God’s promises keeps us focused on them instead of on the distractions that are sent to prevent us from receiving what God has for us. When facing the impossible, we can’t afford to look at whatever is coming against us.
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